Sugarcane farmers demand halt to unauthorized sugar imports threatening national harvest

Venezuelan sugarcane farmers are sounding the alarm over what they describe as an influx of unauthorized refined sugar imports, which they claim jeopardizes the national harvest and creates an uneven playing field.

The Society of Sugarcane Farmers of Torres Municipality (Socatorres) has directly appealed to the Minister of Agriculture, Vladimir Padrino López. Ricardo Álvarez, president of Socatorres, stated that the core demand is the enforcement of an August 20 agreement in Caracas. This agreement, he insists, stipulated that sugar shipments lacking permits would be denied entry into the country.

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The fundamental idea of this meeting is to call on Minister Vladimir Padrino López to fulfill what was said on August 20 in Caracas: that those requests for sugar that came without a permit would not be allowed nor would they be allowed to enter. That is the main call. We know that there are some ships right now in international waters and we understand that they have already been contracted to bring that sugar to its destination, which we demand be stopped and not enter the country.

"We demand that they be stopped and not enter the country," Álvarez declared, referring to ships currently in international waters that he believes are contracted to deliver such sugar. The guild argues that these imports, often exempt from the Value Added Tax (VAT) on inputs, spare parts, and services, municipal patents, and scientific contributions that burden Venezuelan producers, constitute ruinous and unfair competition.

Socatorres emphasizes that allowing unregulated imports undermines efforts to revive the national sugar industry, which has seen a significant reduction in active processing plants from a historical high of 16. They warn that each uncontrolled imported sack displaces local production, destroys rural jobs, and discourages private investment in agriculture. The guild reiterates its willingness to engage in dialogue but insists on immediate action at ports and borders to protect national production.

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We demand that they be stopped and not enter the country.